SPIN METER: Obama And His Social Security Warning

WASHINGTON (AP) â¿¿ No one doubts dire things will happen, and fast, if the government runs out of borrowing authority in coming weeks. But late Social Security checks need not be among them.

President Barack Obama's blanket statement Monday that "Social Security checks and veterans benefits will be delayed" if Congress doesn't raise the debt limit masked the options open to the government if it is forced to operate in a severe fiscal pinch. There are many, although none pleasant. If Washington can't keep borrowing to ensure all its bills are paid, it will need to decide which expenses to cover and which might have to slide until a deal comes together.

It's possible, but not preordained, that Social Security recipients, veterans and beneficiaries of other cherished programs would take a hit. The administration has choices in how to spread the pain.

Highlighting a threat to the most popular products of the government is a time-honored Washington tactic for turning up the heat on the other side to negotiate and settle.

Few may care, or even know, if spending is slashed on the multitudes of private contractors who do work for the government, one likely consequence if the government runs out of borrowing room. But Obama knows lawmakers will get an earful from constituents if Social Security checks are late in coming.

The political predilection for hyperventilated worst-case scenarios was dubbed the Firemen First principle in 1989 by Charles Peters of The Washington Monthly, and is known in other quarters as the Washington Monument ploy. It's the threat that a budget cut will force firemen and police to be laid off, or the iconic monument to be shut, when in fact there are other ways to save money. (It so happens the monument is closed, but for earthquake repair.)